Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Lights Out for the Chelsea

Last night, after a weekend of sudden closure at the Chelsea Hotel, and after news broke of the building's finalized sale, the lights of the iconic neon sign went dark.



It's a dreary and ominous sight over 23rd Street, but what does it mean? Is it a message from the new owner to say "It's mine now"? A signal from the tenants, symbolizing mourning? Or another form of sabotage?

Either way, it surely marks the end of a brightly shining era and the beginning of a darker time to come.
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13 comments:

  1. TriciaAugust 3, 2011 at 7:40 AM

    sad to say, it makes me think of the soul going out of the body

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  2. EV GrieveAugust 3, 2011 at 8:30 AM

    I was actually thinking what Tricia just said. Eerie.

    Anyway, just in time with the double-dip recession coming.... Dark times...

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  3. AnonymousAugust 3, 2011 at 8:59 AM

    I stayed there in the 80s. One more unique bohemian outpost gone forever, given over to developers. Follow Ed Hamilton's Chelsea Hotel Blog for daily details.

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  4. chandlerslistAugust 3, 2011 at 9:02 AM

    Please go on iTunes or some music-thieving site and listen to the Raunch Hands' Bigg Topp song entitled, "Beautified," off the "Feel It" LP, released on Licorice Tree Records in 2007. The song says it all, simply, succinctly.

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  5. Marty WombacherAugust 3, 2011 at 11:55 AM

    Sad to see that iconic sign dimmed.

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  6. Bowery BoogieAugust 3, 2011 at 12:30 PM

    J, have you read the Patti Smith memoir yet? Totally worth it, especially for the detail about the Chelsea.

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  7. Jeremiah MossAugust 3, 2011 at 2:13 PM

    i am reading it now--and loving it like crazy.

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  8. Mykola ( Mick) DementiukAugust 3, 2011 at 2:30 PM

    Wait till she visits Rimbaud's grave in the rain storm. She's as flaky as they come.

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  9. Jeremiah MossAugust 3, 2011 at 3:25 PM

    she is, but i am liking the total lack of irony and snark. i forget what it was like to live in pre-ironic times. that all ended in the 90s.

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  10. Mykola ( Mick) DementiukAugust 3, 2011 at 3:43 PM

    I had my stroke in 1998 and was carted out of NYC after living on the Lower East Side for close to 50 years. Good memories there with awesome changes. In a way I'm glad I was 'reborn' when the 'real' Lower East was/had died. That's all I ever write about now, the Lower East Side, filling novella after novella. I would say, "It's sure has been worth it," smile sadly and go on.

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  11. AnonymousAugust 3, 2011 at 10:38 PM

    It is absolutely unnerving to see. - BN

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  12. cathrynAugust 6, 2011 at 2:45 AM

    really thought that one would hold on... hard to imagine...

    I still walk by W 4th and can't believe they got rid of the Bottom Line.

    Sad.

    p.s. I would not describe Patti Smith as "flaky." I had mixed feelings on her book tho' although I enjoyed reading it and getting a feel for what she felt it was like then. Loved reading about Max's Kansas City and whole scene then. It's almost like the city is undergoing a death that no one is paying attention too - except your blog!

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  13. AnonymousAugust 11, 2011 at 2:08 PM

    I stayed there for two weeks in 1990, I was doing my annual Naval Reserve duty in Bayonne.

    I walked into the lobby one afternoon in my dress blues and a guy asked me if I was playing in A Few Good Men.

    I ended up drinking one night with one guy who was a permanent resident - he had a full recording studio in his room - mixing boards and a Mac to compose electronic music.

    I remember the ironwork on the bannisters - Cornell Iron Works.

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